Lord Lloyd Webber told the Herald Sun that he lunched with Minchin recently and was impressed.

He said: "Tim's a good fellow, I had a great time with him. The quality of his words [for the West End production of Matilda the Musical] is a fantastic addition to the world musical theatre scene."

He also predicted that Minchin will be "a very major force in musicals in the future", describing him as a "brilliant and talented man".

Lord Lloyd Webber recently revealed that he is launching a new ITV1 series called Superstar, in order to help him find an actor and singer to play the lead role in an upcoming arena tour of Jesus Christ Superstar.

He said that the winner will have to possess "enormous charisma" similar to late Queen frontman Freddie Mercury.